Where do I recruit more mature staff?

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I run a play centre and have been advertising for kitchen staff. Because we only open weekends and school holidays, we struggle to recruit people in their 30's and 40's because lots have kids.
We are currently advertising on indeed and the very few applications that we have had that I thought would work, have ignored my offers of an interview.
When I advertise on our facebook page, I get lots of very young, inexperienced staff. Our site is huge and we can have 200 people in the venue at once.
We need some older more mature staff that have life experience. Someone that isn't a chef but a cook, that can cook the food for parties and combine orders to get food out quicker. It is super easy stuff like panini's and pizzas but the orders get backed up if they don't understand that as one thing cooks you start the next or start 3 orders and have dishes sat out getting cold etc.
Where would you be advertising in my shoes?

PS. All help appreciated but off to a meeting with said staff so will comment as soon as I get back.

Have you tried your local job Center?

How about asking around nurseries or pre-schools which shut for summer.

They will clearly have experience around groups of children, DBS checked and their work places will be closed or in schools for TA.

You might like to suggest that you are happy for it to be job-share.

Can you word your advert to say they need x number of years experience in the same kind of field. That way only older people can apply.
If you have dcs could you have a word with the canteen/ catering staff at their school to see if they want summer / weekend job

Is there no one to give the younger staff the correct training? I did catering when I was a student and was taught all the processes for multi tasking etc and was also trained to be a supervisor. Young people can absolutely do it but they do need to learn.

Well first of all it is illegal to recruit on the basis of age so forget about wanting older people as such - its the experience you want.
Get someone to look at your job ads - is it clear what experience you are asking for?
Are you paying a fair rate for that experience?
Try Find A Job - gov recruitment site.At least its free and will have a wide audience.
Agree with talking to your local Jobcentre if you are in teh UK. They will have an Employer Adviser who can help you.

You can't specify a minimum of years of experience as that is indirect discrimination. You need to think carefully about where older people would see an advert and target there. Eg. a community centre running clubs aimed at older people or a Post Office notice board

This sounds like age discrimination. There’s also no guarantee older staff will be any more mature.

Comcentrate on getting people in with the right attitude and train them up. It sounds like the perfect job for sixth form / students - many of whom would be far more likely to do a good job than half the 30 and 40-somethings I know!

If you offer training then people will likely apply. The job centre can help you recruit.

I don't think many older people just want to work weekends and school holidays. They have bills to pay all year around. A weekend and school holiday job normally attracts students.

I think you will really struggle to recruit someone in their 30s and 40s into this kind of role. It is presumably a minimum or low wage job, with weekend and school holiday working only. Adults of this age usually have children and will want hours that work around family life. The hours you are advertising for are not family friendly and suit young people much better- uni/ college students, sixth formers etc. Probably need to spend more time training the young ones.

this is age discrimination and illegal

Exactly this. OP when I worked at McDonald's at uni this was pretty basic training and most staff got it in the first few weeks of being there. You need someone to take on the trainer role.

Weekends and school holidays would be a great opportunity for college students studying catering or hospitality. Any local colleges near you that offer catering courses?

You could easily train a young person. I worked in a cafe for two years at weekends and holidays when I was in 6th form.

Mature applicants still have families and things they want to do at the weekend and working with children when their own are grown up might not be their thing.

You're going to have to put some good training in place.

Or pay handsomly. I'd do it but I'd want £30 an hour for sacrificing week-ends with my family. That might still be cheaper than a trainer though.

The thing with having your own business is that it's really your baby - 16 year olds don't care about it.

Surely what you're asking for is someone with actual experience? In which case, make that clear in the job posting. Of course, you'd also have to make that clear in the pay packet.

It does rather sound like you don't want a professional, but you do want someone with extensive cooking experience. You dont necessarily get both. Either its entry level - in which case young people will apply - ir it requires experience - in whichi case you have to accept it will cost more.

Are you offering a good rate of pay?

Just because someone is older and not a qualified chef it doesn’t mean they will accept minimum wage. Also what hours are you offering

Is it at least 6-8 hours or 3-4 hours because you have to think that if you want someone to get ready, travel to your business and work 3 hours on £12.21 per hour and do the job you want, that means they will be earning only £36.63 for the day. Less tax, NI, pension and travel. And it could just look like too much effort for very little money

If you are near anywhere there is weekend functions, someone with that level of expertise is going to be earning more like £15 per hour + and for 10-12 hours per day and will be clearing at least £300 over the weekend. (Probably more with tips)

It might sound like a simple job but once you take on the job of “cooking” food you are taking on the job of being responsible for allergens in the food you are serving and that comes with another host of issues. Not only are you relying on people to make a note of all of someone’s allergens correctly and pass it on to you but also knowing what exactly is in the food that is being served. Also cross contamination etc not just for your own actions but for all the kitchen staff and servers
I for one wouldn’t want that responsibility

If you have them on a self employment basis they will also need public liability insurance

It might sound simple, just heating up a few pizzas etc but it isn’t.

I work in hospitality among my many jobs and whilst I could do the job and am older, it doesn’t mean I am cheaper.

I quite agree about the maturity (not referring to age)/common sense of people seems to have gone down dramatically.
Discussing this with someone who is in her late 20s at work and actually has her head screwed on.
I think back to when I was 18 and whilst I have ADHD and my brain still thinks I am 12 years old I can honestly say I was never the level of stupidity I have seen in the last few years I have done this job.

I think for a lot of young people especially they have led very sheltered lives.

But even the older ones and the managers who I work with, the gaps in their understanding of what I thought was fundamental common sense can still be missing. Even if it is just relying on numbers and basic adding up and taking away

Wondering why a couple of powerful units were tripping out when they were both plugged into a 13amp extension cable

Then calling out an electrician to look to see what was wrong with both units

Very few people will want to work weekends and school holidays only, those that are good at the job you are advertising will already be working in a full time role.

OP it’s a bit like houses it will be down to the wages. If you want experienced staff that only work weekends and school holidays it’s not ideal for most people. Can you move on the wage?

I’m older, no way would I want to work weekends.

Thanks everyone. The wage is good for the industry but not high. I can't really go higher. We are offering 16-20 hours a week so part time.
I know weekend jobs are rubbish but plenty of people work in hospitality and retail working weekends. I haven't put anything about age in the job adverts just that I want someone with experience. 35 out of 40 applicants have never worked in a kitchen!

Training we have done. We took someone on in April who said she had the experience. Had our kitchen supervisor train her, gave her loads of support. She was okay but as soon as she hit a point where someone had to come in and help, she stepped back and just let you do it instead of assisting. She was constantly ringing in sick, asking to go early, and I caught her vaping in the toilets.
We have another that is okay but when no orders are in just stands there rather than tidying round, doing pots etc. Also calls in sick all the time.
I do have one great lady in her sixties (above kitchen supervisor) but she wants to retire this year and I have another who is good (early 20s) but not available much.
There is so much drama and flakiness with the younger ones. They don't want to learn. My meeting tonight was about how to make the job role more meaningful and beneficial to them long term and the younger ones just couldn't give a shit.
So I know you cannot discriminate on age...but where do I advertise for a job where someone sensible might apply!?

You could offer apprenticeships, or recruit direct from local colleges.

Where in the country are you. I'm looking for something partime.

What is the wording on the advert? Maybe you need to make it clear that you want someone who can multitask and take initiative and follow several fast-moving pieces of data at once. (Actually a lot of gamers have trained well in these skills!) And someone who is willing to learn/be trained - is it clear that they will need to take on new skills?

There are lots more applicants than positions for every job and I think a lot of them aren't up to scratch. It can be that they are being forced to look for work by the benefits system but they don't really want a job.

Weekends and holidays makes me think teens/students would be a good fit but those are the group you're finding unreliable?

You're being agist. Young people are capable, recruit well and train properly